It is well known that backing up a vehicle with a trailer attached is a difficult task for many drivers. This is particularly true for drivers that are untrained at backing with trailers such as, for example, those that drive with an attached trailer on an infrequent basis (e.g., have rented a trailer, use a personal trailer on an infrequent basis, etc.). One reason for such difficulty is that backing a vehicle with an attached trailer requires counter-steering that is opposite to normal steering when backing the vehicle without a trailer attached and/or requires braking to stabilize the vehicle-trailer combination before a jackknife condition occurs. Another reason for such difficulty is that small errors in steering while backing a vehicle with an attached trailer are amplified thereby causing the trailer to depart from a desired path.
To assist the driver in steering a vehicle with a trailer attached, a trailer backup assist system needs to know the driver's intention. One common assumption with known trailer backup assist systems is that a driver of a vehicle with an attached trailer wants to back up straight and the system either implicitly or explicitly assumes a zero curvature path for the vehicle-trailer combination. Unfortunately most of the real-world use cases of backing a trailer involve a curved path and, thus, assuming a path of zero curvature would significantly limit usefulness of the system. Some known systems assume that a path is known from a map or path planner. To this end, some known trailer backup assist systems operate under a requirement that a trailer back-up path is known before backing of the trailer commences such as, for example, from a map or a path planning algorithm. Undesirably, such implementations of the trailer backup assist systems are known to have a relatively complex Human Machine Interface (HMI) device to specify the path, obstacles and/or goal of the backup maneuver. Furthermore, such systems also require some way to determine how well the desired path is being followed and to know when the desired goal, or stopping point and orientation, has been met, using approaches such as cameras, inertial navigation, or high precision GPS. These requirements lead to a relatively complex and costly system.
Another reason backing a trailer can prove to be difficult is the need to control the vehicle in a manner that limits the potential for a jack-knife condition to occur. A trailer has attained a jackknife condition when a hitch angle cannot be reduced (i.e., made less acute) while continuously backing up a trailer by application of a maximum steering input for the vehicle such as, for example, by moving steered front wheels of the vehicle to a maximum steered angle at a maximum rate of steering angle change. In the case of the jackknife angle being achieved, the vehicle must be pulled forward to relieve the hitch angle in order to eliminate the jackknife condition and, thus, allow the hitch angle to be controlled via manipulation of the steered wheels of the vehicle. However, in addition to the jackknife condition creating the inconvenient situation where the vehicle must be pulled forward, it can also lead to damage to the vehicle and/or trailer if certain operating conditions of the vehicle relating to its speed, engine torque, acceleration, and the like are not detected and counteracted. For example, if the vehicle is travelling at a suitably high speed in reverse and/or subjected to a suitably high longitudinal acceleration when the jackknife condition is achieved, the relative movement of the vehicle with respect to the trailer can lead to contact between the vehicle and trailer thereby damaging the trailer and/or the vehicle.
Embodiments of the inventive subject matter are directed to trailer backup assist functionality that provides for a user interface for a system that controls curvature of a path of a trailer being backed by a vehicle. More specifically, trailer backup assist functionality configured in accordance with embodiments of the inventive subject matter provide for such trailer path curvature control by allowing a driver of the vehicle to specify a desired path of the trailer by inputting a desired trailer path curvature as the backup maneuver of the vehicle and trailer progresses. In response to such path of the trailer being specified by the driver, embodiments of the inventive subject matter control a power assisted steering system (e.g., electric power assisted steering (EPAS) system) of the vehicle for implementing steering angle changes of steered wheels of the vehicle to achieve the specified trailer path. Kinematics of the vehicle and the trailer are used to determine the steering angle changes that are required for achieving the specified trailer path. Accordingly, embodiments of the inventive subject matter provide for implementation of trailer backup assist functionality in a manner that is relatively simple and that enables use of an intuitive vehicle operator interface for specifying trailer path curvature control.